Device for supporting glass during heating



Oct. 24, 1950 T. w. GLYNN 2,526,815

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING GLASS DURING HEATING Filed Oct. 6, 1947 FIG. 1.

INVENTOR THEODORE WlLLIAHGLYNN ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 24, 1950 DEVKCEFOR SUPPORTING GLASS DURING HEATING Theodore William Glynn, Kingsport,Tenn, assignor to Blue Ridge Glass Corporation, Kingsport, Tenn, acorporation of New York Application (Pctober 6, 1947, Serial No. 778,167

(Ci. 49 m) Ti Claim.

In the production of tempered glass it is necessary to heat the glass tonear the softening point. During the period of such heating it isnecessary to support it to prevent its distortion and this by means notinjurious to the surface or introducing strain.

With this end in view it has been the general practice to hang flatglass sheets vertically by tongs, the prongs of which enter to a slightextent the surface of the sheet near the upper edge thereof. Under thisarrangement the pull of gravity is relied on to prevent distortion ofthe sheet, but it has been found that the prong entrance into the sheetresults, on the cooling of the sheet, of introducing strains tending toweakness.

I propose therefore, according to this invention, to rest the sheet instirrups and to hold the sheet vertically by metallic wires on each sidethereof held taught by Weights, the wires so positioning the stirrups inrelation to the lower edge of the sheet as to reduce to a minimum thedistortion of the latter due to its gravity.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts aredesignated by corresponding marks of ref erence Figure 1 is an elevationof a glass sheet supported in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is an end view thereof.

In these drawings I have designated by A a sheet of glass, say 16" by 24by 1 (the major aXis vertical) which is to be heated.

l is a bar on which are carried the hangers 2, from each of which ispendent a pulley 3. The bight of a nichrome or other heat resistant wire4 passes over each of the pulleys and has its lower ends passed througha spreader 5 on the upper end of a standard 5a arising from a weight52), say of 20 pounds. The spreaders are functionally parts of theweight. The two ends of the wire in passing through a spreader are heldapart a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the plate,while a washer 6 having an openin of about /4" is threaded over bothruns of each wire above the plate.

Supported on each spreader is a knife edge I on which the sheet rests.

I have found that sag of the medial portion of a soft sheet may beprevented by spacing a knife edge at a distance from each vertical edgeof the plate equal to about of the length of the bottom edge or at adistance apart equal to 66% of the length of such lower edge. There is,however, with this spacing a tendency of the sheet to distort at its topbetween the wires and to prevent this I prefer to move the knife edgescloser together by an amount equal to about 6 of that resulting from thespacing above specified, thus making the distance apart of the edgesabout of the length of the lower edge of the sheet.

To permit the distance between the knife edges to be adjusted to meetthe above conditions with the sheets of varying width I prefer toprovide for a shiftin of the hangers on their carrying bar and clampingthereon in the desired positions. This may be done by passing the barthrough slots in the hangers and providing friction clamps controlled bypressure screws 8 bearing on the top of the bars. As shown the lower endof the hangers terminate in claws 2a for receiving the pin 3a in theupper end of the yokes Sb in which the pulleys are mounted.

In the use of my invention the hangers having been properly positionedon the bars with the pulleys and wires and weight depending therefromthe sheet is inserted between the two runs of the wire and the washersare allowed to drop close to the upper edges of the sheet. The sheetthus supported from the bar is inserted in a suitable heating furnace.Upon completion of the heating it is removed from the furnace whilestill dependent from the bar to receive subsequent treatment, such aschilling.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In a device for supporting a glass sheet vertically during heating, thecombination with knife edges below the bottom of the sheet, a verticalrun of wire on each side of the sheet supporting the said knife edges, aweight pendent from said wires, pulleys over which the said runs of wirepass, a carrying bar and brackets movable on said bar and means forclamping the brackets to the bar.

THEODORE WILLIAM GLYNN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,062,567 Forbes Dec. 1, 1936FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 525,948 Great Britain Sept, 6, 1940

